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Crane Is Coming
Crane Is Coming is the seventh full-length album by Brunanter indie folk rock band The Towners, released by Lebal Records on January 14, 2012. Crane Is Coming was recorded during the spring of 2011 and co-produced by Myrthe Loncke, making it her fourth time collaborating with The Towners on a full album. It was preceded by The Second Woman, an EP of five album out-takes and one extra track. Concept and style Crane Is Coming serves as a prequel to the narrative of the band's 2003 film noir homage Miller Returns, situated in 'the Grey City' (Grijzestad) and focusing on the fictional character named Miller, a prototypical noir antihero. Miller, desperately in need of money to pay off a debt, decides to partake in a gang robbery. When things go wrong, he faces a terrible fate at the hands of a hit-man called Crane, sent by his creditors. The album's title is taken from the first song with the same name, in which Edward Hennessey sings: "What it all boils down to, is just this one thing / See there's no use in hiding, no point in running / Cause there's this man called Crane and Crane is coming". The story ends with Miller fleeing the city after all, to came back years later in Miller Returns. Unlike Miller Returns, the tracks on the records are ordered chronologically, though the fact that the story is told in a flashback could cause some confusion. To represent the frantic nature and cracked personality of Miller, and his inner world falling apart, most songs have a undeniably unpolished feel to them, reminiscent of The Towners' earlier work. In addition, transitions between tracks are intentionally botched and some songs end abruptly. Appeal magazine has attributed the album's rough edges to the critique the band received for the mainstream direction taken with their previous work, Patrickson's. Vocalist and guitarist Steve Hennessey stated: "We weren't trying to force ourselves into a direction, there was just this wanting to do something different from what we did with the last record. Back to Americana, back to the cinematic tradition. That whole world we discovered a long time ago, that had absorbed us, was calling us again." Three songs feature Automotive Jazz Ensemble musician Godmund Culligan'Godmund Culligan' article on Wikination, retrieved 2012-06-14., twice playing the saxophone and once on the organ. Although the femme fatale character, 'The Pretty Girl From Downtown', voiced by Lovian singer Abbie Cole on Miller Returns, is also present in the story, Cole herself is not featured on the record, for reasons unknown. Singles by David Jane.]] The first single, 'Down By The Harbor', includes Lovian jazz musician Godmund Culligan, who contributes accordion riffs, while Steve Hennessey plays a 12-string guitar harmony and Edward Hennessey provides vocals and heavy harmonica. 'Down By The Harbor' was featured for free download on December 2, 2011, on the band's official website. Lyrically, it is vaguely mournful. 'Down by the Harbor' has been described as catchy and radio-friendly, while maintaining the lyrical complexity found on The Towners' earlier work. The second single, the titular song 'Crane Is Coming', was released on January 2, 2012, together with its music video, directed by David Jane (brother of band member Ned Jane). The black-and-white video consists solely of long tracking shots following a man in a raincoat and hat around the city of Grijzestad. Presumably the man is the character Crane, though he can only be seen from the back. The music video resembles the art work of the album's cover, and vice versa, up to the font that is used. The single "Two and Two" has been the opening theme for the Libertan television series Be-Railed. Tracklisting #'Crane Is Coming' (featuring Godmund Culligan) - 4:52 #'A Killer's Call (Is Murder Around?)' (featuring Godmund Culligan) - 5:30 #'Two and Two' - 3:58 #'Hella Belle' - 3:10 #'Dear River' - 3:42 #'The Greatest Con' - 3:14 #'Fiery Blues (Into Shambles)' - 3:10 #'Down By The Harbor' (featuring Godmund Culligan) - 4:59 #'This Is Why We Run' - 3:50 #'Mist Hymn' - 4:17 References and notes Category:Music albums Category:The Towners